10 files, last one added on Feb 16, 2008

History write-up coming soon

28 files, last one added on Nov 12, 2007

History write-up coming soon

23 files, last one added on Nov 12, 2007

Fort Carroll is a fortified 3.4 acre artificial island located on the Patapsco River just south of Baltimore's Key Bridge. The fort was built to replace Fort McHenry which was located too close to the growing city to provide adequate protection. Construction began sometime around 1847 and remained incomplete thru the civil war during which advances in artillery made the fort's defenses obsolete. In the late 1890s the fort was re-armed and updated to the "Endicott System" in response to hostilities with Spain but never saw war. The army abandoned the fort in 1921 until returning to limited service during World War II acting as a firing range for the Army and Coast Guard as well as a checkpoint for ships entering the harbor. After Work War II the fort and lighthouse were again abandoned.

The property has since been passed from one developer to the next all with failed attempts to create a new use for the old fort. All while becoming a jungle like habitat for thousands of birds.

88 files, last one added on Aug 13, 2007

Established in 1855 as the Government Hospital for the Insane, this Hospital has had a distinguished history in the treatment of the mentally ill. The Hospital's early mission was to provide the "most humane care and enlightened curative treatment of the insane of the Army, Navy, and District of Columbia." During the Civil War, wounded soldiers treated here were reluctant to admit that they were in an insane asylum. The Hospital complex covering an area of over 300 acres housed 7,000 patients. It was the first and only federal mental facility with a national scope.

The original 1850s building has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is currently being restored for use by multiple government organizations. On the grounds of the hospital is also a Civil War cemetery where 300 Union and Confederate soldiers who died here are buried.

75 files, last one added on Apr 10, 2007

The Patuxent Mental Hospital opened its doors in 1925. During the early years this facility was known as a state-of-the-art treatment facility. With a good reputation this hospital set the standard for other states to follow.

With declining conditions decades later many patients filed lawsuits against the hospital for reasons of abuse, neglect, poor living conditions... even medical testing. A small morgue was all that stood between the patients and a cemetery on site where graves have been repeatedly uncovered by erosion.

Little activity can be found on the site after its closure in 1991. Now over 20 buildings sit abandoned and decaying lost in the woods of Maryland. There is little evidence of future plans for the site.

118 files, last one added on Aug 31, 2006

In the early 1700s flooding and waterborne disease was a big problem that slowed the growth of Baltimore city. To solve the problem engineers came up with a plan that would bury the area streams and rivers in underground storm drain systems. The Jones Falls Conduit is one of those systems. The Jones Falls watershed encompasses about 58 square miles of Baltimore County which drains to a stream that runs alongside the Jones Falls Expressway (I-83) until it goes underground near North Howard Street. Once underground the stream passes thru a massive concrete/brick conduit running in total darkness for about 1.7 miles before it outfalls into the Inner Harbor.

23 files, last one added on Dec 31, 2006

Chip's Theatre has been around since the 1870s. The structure was originally known as the "Natatorium" meaning indoor swimming pool. It housed a subterranean spa with Turkish baths, steam rooms, and what was once the city's largest swimming pool. There is still evidence of the baths & steam rooms hidden away in the basement of the theatre. The structure would later be converted into a movie house and is now the oldest standing movie theatre in the city. The theatre closed up in the 1980s and sometime during the 1990s weather and neglect took their toll on the structure and the roof collapsed destroying most of the structure. I have no info on future use of this structure. The sealed up brick walls hide the rotting interior and will continue to probably until it is demolished.

81 files, last one added on Jun 07, 2007

This beast of an abandonment lies silently awaiting its fate like a ghost on the bay. Steel plating and welded doors keep this power plant sealed up tight keeping people out and hazardous materials in.

When built in 1906 this was the largest concrete reinforced power station in the world burning two types of fuel. The plant generated power by burning natural gas and fuel oil to produce steam, it also had a combustion turbine used for burning natural gas.

After closing, part of the plant was supposedly used as a set for the movie "12 monkeys". While there is little to nothing resembling the set in the movie you can find a "12 Monkeys" symbol painted on the rear of the building.

103 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

More photos and history write-up coming soon

57 files, last one added on Jul 19, 2007

Built in the 1920s this old stone church now sleeps quietly within a community burdened by poverty, violence and drug use. Good luck finding it.

92 files, last one added on May 13, 2007

Located in a once-booming steel town, this church befell the same fate as countless neighboring buildings after the decline of the steel industry, quickly deteriorating and largely forgotten. In the 1940’s this town lived on the steel industry and especially profited during World War II. In the last few decades, the flow of Japanese steel and automobiles to America has turned this town and other communities like it into decaying industrial landscapes.

43 files, last one added on Apr 18, 2007

Located in the "Brewers Hill" area of Baltimore the Gunther Brewery stands vacant awaiting it transformation into mixed residential and commercial use. Dating back to the early 1900s the property began as a beer brewing operation for the George Gunther, Jr. Brewing Company. While successful Gunther became swallowed up by the larger Hamm's Brewing Co. who was later bought out by the F.& M. Schaefer Brewing Co. Both companies preserved the Gunther brands until the brewery was closed in 1978.

118 files, last one added on Apr 11, 2007

Rat infested and falling apart, the Castle School is located in a violent heroin-ravaged Puerto Rican neighborhood. When it closed sometime around the year 2000 the school was ranked as the worst middle school in the city. It wasn’t always that way though... The school was built in 1903 as one of the first vocational schools in the area, a prototype design that future schools would follow. The well known school was very successful at preparing students for careers in area industry. After the vocational school moved out of the area, the school went thru several uses and name changes. As the area worsened, the school fell into corruption and neglect before the city eventually shut it down.

92 files, last one added on Mar 02, 2007

This page is made up to hold miscellaneous images. Random images from places where we maybe didn't get enough photos or the location was too small to justify its own page or maybe just spy shots from scouting out a location. Enjoy!

52 files, last one added on Jun 07, 2007

These buildings, some constructed as early as 1930, remain standing as a testament to our nation’s mining history. No two look alike, but they all served the same purpose: process raw coal and break them into useful sizes. One feature most had in common was a covered conveyor that ran from the head of the mineshaft to the top of the preparation plant. There the coal would start it’s descent through cleaning and crushing machinery, through sizing screens and then moved out of the building. In some plants, this process happened in as little as 12 minutes. These once modern wonders have been replaced with more efficient plants, but will continue to stand until time or vandalism finally takes it’s toll.

94 files, last one added on Mar 11, 2007

Built in the late 1800s this Roman Catholic church has sat vacant since the late 1990s when it was closed by the diocese. From the tops of the bell towers to the cold dark basement this church is easily one of my favorites and that’s why Im not going to tell you where it is.

67 files, last one added on Jan 11, 2007

Built in 1907 the Homestead Works was once a huge iron making operation on the Monongahela river near Pittsburgh, PA. Today the “Carrie 6" and “Carrie 7" blast furnaces are all that remain on the silent 430 acre site. Future plans will allow visitors to climb and explore the furnaces in what is expected to be a $78 million stabilization and renovation project creating the Homestead Works National Park.

34 files, last one added on Jan 09, 2007

Part of a much larger campus this now vacant building at North Valley State Sanatorium was built in the 1930s at a cost of only $600,000. Known originally as the Children’s Hospital this building served as a preventorium for tuberculosis. The Children’s Hospital consisted of two wings jutting from a central pavilion. The building included two indoor pools designed specifically for tuberculosis patients, a library, four classrooms, exercise rooms, single patient rooms as well as wards, an auditorium, a movie theatre, lounges, and a complete single-family house in the east wing for rehabilitation. The hospital opened in 1940 and was used as a preventorium until 1956. From 1956-1959 it provided a home for mentally retarded women. From 1965-1985 the building housed geriatric patients. The building closed in 1985 due to a deteriorating roof and has been sitting vacant since.

122 files, last one added on Dec 09, 2006

At the time of its opening in 1908 it was referred to as the Crab Hill Institution for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic. The huge complex of buildings was once a home to over 3550 patients, operated by 575 employees. Patients were put to work maintaining the facility and running shops and other miscellaneous jobs. The state was actually profiting from the facility. When the outside world found out about the inner workings of Crab Hill many considered it nothing more than a warehouse for the mentally retarded. Investigations brought lawsuits against the institution which was found guilty of violating patient’s rights by way of abuse, sexual assault, isolation and worse. The facility was forced to close in 1987.

67 files, last one added on Dec 06, 2006

Located just across the patapsco from the former St. Mary’s College site near Ellicott city, the former Thistle Mill was constructed in the 1820s (opened in 1824) by the Scottish Ellicott brothers as a cotton textile and cotton print mill. The Thistle Manufacturing Company changed hands and functions a number of times during the early 20th century. While it had previously made cotton thread and silk products, in 1919 Edward and A.A. Blakeney and Company bought the factory and converted it into a cotton duck manufactory. It was soon sold again, however, and began producing fabric for automobile tires. In 1922 the Bartgis Brothers Company bought the complex and began producing paperboard. The facility changed names again and in 1957 it became the New Haven Board and Carton Company. Until recently the buildings were still in use by Simkins industries as a paper recycling plant (known as the Baltimore Board Mill). But in 2003 a fire destroyed much of the Baltimore county side of the factory and the plant & surrounding mill houses were abandoned. It remains unclear if the factory will be rebuilt or has seen the end of its almost 200-year lifespan.

76 files, last one added on Nov 18, 2006

This area's historical significance is its connection with the largest invasion of the United States in history on the morning of September 12, 1814. The British had landed about seven thousand men near the site that later became Fort Howard, as a part of a campaign to capture and burn Baltimore. In coordination with their navy's bombardment of Fort McHenry, the British troops were to march up Patapsco Neck and capture Baltimore from the east. But the British advance was first demoralized when American sharpshooters Daniel Wells and Henry McComas killed their popular commanding general. The advance had been temporarily stalled by the Americans in the Battle of North Point, and finally stopped dead when the British perceived the strength of the American defenses at Patterson Park. Disheartened, they re-boarded their ships near North Point and sailed away- to another defeat, in the Battle of New Orleans.

Fort Howard was originally known as North Point, but was renamed in 1902 after Colonel John Eager Howard, a Baltimore philanthropist and distinguished soldier of the Maryland Continental Line during the Revolutionary War. In the 1700's, the site served as an important part of the transportation route between the Eastern Shore and the port of Baltimore. Known as the "Bulldog at Baltimore's Gate", Fort Howard was also created to protect the valued Baltimore Port. Many of the fort batteries, previously manned by Coast Artillery Corps, can still be seen, although they are now covered by dark ivy and bushes.

The hospital was built around 1940 on the post garrison area of the fort. The rehabilitation facility which had 154 hospital operating beds also provided rehabilitation medicine, geriatric medicine, substance abuse rehabilitation, subacute care, and outpatient services. It operated a 47 bed nursing home care unit that was closed in 1996 with the opening of the new nursing home in Baltimore. Many of the other services that were available here have been transfered elsewhere.

Of the many structures on site all of them are abandoned with the exception of the out-patient clinic, grounds crew building and the security building at the front gate. Plans are in the works to create a veterans retirement community on the old campus so it may not last much longer in its current condition before building/demolition begins.

109 files, last one added on Nov 04, 2006

This huge mill complex started out as a small paper mill in the late 1700s. The mill was the first in America to use an endless sheet machine which would later revolutionize the manufacture of paper. Plagued by fire and flood the mill was rebuilt time and time again until 1838 when the estate was sold. The property was purchased and converted into a cotton spinning mill and by 1930 was the largest cotton finishing works in the world. The mill housed various other mixed uses before closing down in 2003. Some of the buildings are currently being converted into condos while others are on a list to be demolished.

115 files, last one added on Sep 25, 2006

Located in western Maryland this power plant has been closed down for a long time but not totally inactive. Vandalism and graffiti are signs of heavy traffic from the local kids and the power plant is also inhabited by a homeless man. Other than news reports of a fire in Feb. 2005 I have been unable to find any history or future plans for this place.

139 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

What is now a giant parking lot for imported cars from Mercedes was once Kurt Iron & Metal. The company specialized in ripping apart ships and selling the scrap metal and parts. They handled everything from small boats to large aircraft carriers. Even though Mercedes has done a good job cleaning up the grounds which included removing buried bombs which were left from navy ships the harbor is still littered with scraps, burned piers and a few ships. One of the ships shown below is an old ferry which had a big enclosed ballroom, a bar, many entertainment areas, a kitchen, etc... The other was some kind of maintenance boat of which the only purpose I could come up with was “tank cleaning”. The ships will probably remain here until they completely rust away.

66 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

Once used as passenger trains in Long Island New York these cars now sit unused at sites in Waldorf and White Planes, MD. The original plan was to convert them to be used as a dinner train but nothing ever developed from the idea and the cars have been rusting ever since.

33 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

This facility was built by the Navy and used for radio astronomy. The 2 giant dishes were used to study radiation from the sun and moon and to pinpoint optically invisible phenomena in space such as black holes. The site is located in the middle of nowhere MD. Isolation was required to prevent any radio interference. In the early 80s funding was cut back as bigger and better telescopes were built around the world. The telescopes have not been used since 1994, when astronomers relied on them to study the collision of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter, the first observed collision of two solar system bodies. The Navy passed the site over to the Bureau of Land Management which plans to tear down the dishes. Future plans for the site are unknown.

55 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

The Dogwood State Hospital Center is the Nation’s second oldest Psychiatric Hospital. What started out in 1797 as a single hospital building is now a vast complex of buildings with different functions. Located in the center of the active campus is a building once known as “Psychopathic Building”. Built in 1914 with federal funding this building’s first patients were psychiatrically ill World War I serviceman. The World War I patients were treated here up until 1925 when they were transferred to a newly built veterans hospital in Perry Point, MD. It was at this point that the federal government transferred use of the building to the Dogwood State hospital. Mentally ill patients were treated here up until 1979 when the building was closed down. The building has been abandoned since and despite years of weathering the building is in very good shape compared to many I have seen of its age. I was unable to find any future plans for this building.

77 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

The John Wesley United Methodist Church is located along Philadelphia road in Abingdon, MD. The church was given to the blacks by the Quakers around 1868. Along with religious services the church was also used as a school before a newer building was built nearby. Also located on the property is an old parsonage, a cemetery with some pretty old headstones and an old wooden outhouse. Since our visit the roof has fallen in and the entire structure has become very unstable.

16 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

Built in the early 1900s Phillips Packing Company was the largest employer in Cambridge, MD. Phillips was big into the vegetable canning business. So big that they did even more canning than the well known Campbell’s company. After closing in the 50s the complex of factories and warehouses stood abandoned until some of them were converted to be used as a large antique shop. The still abandoned portions of the site include a power building, warehouses and other miscellaneous structures and equipment.

67 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

In the late 1800s the Hubner Psychiatric Hospital came about as the “Second Hospital for the Insane of Maryland”. What started out as a small collection of converted farmhouses became a large complex of buildings which treated over 3,000 patients. Now over 100 years later the site is still very active but scattered around the area you will find plenty of buildings that have served their time and now sit lifeless as they slowly deteriorate by the hands of nature.

48 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

Built in 1907 the Hilltop State Hospital was the first state funded tuberculosis sanatorium in the state of Maryland. The remaining administration building once had 8 detached patient wings which were designed to isolate patients in an environment with maximum ventilation in all weather conditions. The wings were demolished when tuberculosis was no longer a threat in the area. At this point the use of the hospital was converted from medical to educational when it became a private school and juvenile treatment facility. Construction of a new detention center housed 209 beds and also included a 16-bed transitional living program which closed in 2002. The state plans to re-open the site with a new program but until then the only activity this site will see is from the grounds crew which still maintains the site.

78 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

Built in the early 1900s the Sydenham Hospital was originally used to treat chronic diseases such as diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever, smallpox and chicken pox. After closing in 1949 the property was used by the Montebello State Chronic Disease Hospital which later became the Montebello Rehabilitation Center. I am unsure what the current use of the facility is.

37 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

The first Fort Washington was completed in 1809 and guarded the Nation’s Capital until it was destroyed by its own garrison in 1814. Extensive remodeling was performed in the 1840s and the first guns were mounted in 1846. The masonry fort was occupied by soldiers from the First, Third and Fourth U.S. Artillery during its early history. In 1872 the garrison was removed and additional property purchased to construct a new defense system. Funds for the project were withdrawn and the post was abandoned for the next twenty years. A new defense system, consisting of rifled steel guns in concrete emplacements was authorized in 1886 and work began at Fort Washington in 1891. The next year ground was broken for Battery B, later named Battery Decatur and the guns were mounted in 1896. Eventually eight concrete batteries at Fort Washington and four at Fort Hunt made up the Potomac Defense Command. The guns soon became useless for defense and were removed. The fort was then used for training until turned over to the Department of the Interior which now owns and maintains the fort as a public park.

87 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

Once a very active tuberculosis hospital, the now abandoned Glenn Dale hospital is the most vandalized and neglected place I have ever been. Police live in a security trailer onsite yet the property is easily accessible by pretty much anyone. I don’t know much about the history of Glenn Dale but I can tell you there is really nothing much left resembling what was there years ago.

91 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

The National Park Seminary is also currently known as The Seminary at Forest Glen. The campus history dates way back to the 1800s when an Inn was built in 1887. At the time the area was not easy to access from DC and the hotel suffered financially. In an effort to revive the Inn it was converted into a casino with gambling and bars but the idea did not work. In 1894 the property was leased and the casino was converted into a finishing school for girls. Hard times during the depression hurt enrollment and the primary focus of the school was changed from training the rich elite to a college that all could benefit from emphasizing on academics and practical trade skills that improved employability. Soon after the United States entered WW2 and the property was taken by the Army to use for treatment and recovery of wounded soldiers returning to the states. The property was known as the Walter Reed Army Medical Center during this era. In 2004 ownership of the property was transferred to developers. The developers plan to add to, convert and reuse the existing buildings for residential use including 130 condos, 66 rental units, 13 single family homes and 98 brand new townhouses. Housing is expected to be available in 2007.

123 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

Built around 1910 the House of Refuge was created in an effort to separate children from adult criminals. The complex cared for and treated some 300 delinquent boys and young men, ages 15-17, serving as a detention center for youth awaiting trial and as a training school for youth committed by the court. As facility conditions and “quality of life” deteriorated the governor announced that the House of Refuge be closed in 2005. The future of this beautiful piece of land is currently unclear but there is talk of making much of it state park land.

54 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

Built in 1880 the Ammendale Normal Institute was said to be the largest buildings in Prince George’s County at the time. The Institute was started by a group called the “Christian Brothers”, a Roman Catholic teaching order. Also on the property is St. Joseph’s Chapel, a freestanding Queen Anne style church. In front of the church is a very interesting monument or shrine of some sort built out of volcanic rock and sea shells. The Institute was destroyed by fire in 1998 and the surrounding structures were closed up. An active cemetery is still on site and the grounds maintained.

46 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

The U.S. Naval Training Center, Bainbridge served the United States Navy for 34 years from its beginning as a recruit training command in 1942 to its closing in March of 1976. During that period of time it also served as, among other functions, the home for the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS), the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), the Naval Reserve Manpower Center, and various specialized training schools. The Navy announced its plans to close the base in 1971 which resulted in the final closing in 1976. In 1999, the Federal Government turned the property over to the State of Maryland which sold the property to developers. Residential and commercial development is planed for the site as well as a retirement home, parks, cemetery, library, and much more.

88 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006

The Hebrew Orphan Asylum opened in the 1870s. Located in west Baltimore which at the time was developed either for farming or nothing at all. The orphanage was originally funded by wealthy Jewish families but as time went on the money disappeared and the orphanage had to close its doors in 1923. In 1924 the site reopened as the “West Baltimore General Hospital” and expanded adding several new buildings. More troubling times led to more change as the hospital was again renamed, this time to the “Lutheran Hospital” in 1950. In 1963 there was a new Lutheran Hospital built and use of the old buildings decreased more and more with time. They now site unused and in very bad shape.

33 files, last one added on Jun 07, 2007

Built in 1910 Blagtrup Hospital was built to treat mental patients. To save money much of the campus was built using patient labor. Alone among the state's mental hospitals, Blagtrup housed the criminally insane, the mentally ill and retarded, adults and children along with drunks and people with syphilis and tuberculosis, all on one campus. Adults and children dwelled in the same wards.

Originally know as the “Hospital for the Negro Insane”, the majority of Blagtrup’s population was Black. There are many rumors of patient abuse, neglect and other horror stories from the earlier years.

In an effort to integrate the all white staff the first black employee was hired in 1948 and by 1956 one-third of the staff was black. The hospital fully integrated in 1962.

By the time the facility closed in 2004 Blagtrup’s history was largely forgotten or hidden away.

67 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

During the Spanish-American war the only naval defense for Baltimore was the famous Fort McHenry. Made famous during the War of 1812 when the Americans fought the British in the Battle of Baltimore at which time the "Star-Spangled Banner" was also written by Francis Scott Key. Nearly 100 years later the fort had been rendered useless for naval defense. In 1901, Congress created the U.S. Army Coastal Artillery Corps. The CAC was responsible for establishing a new harbor defense for Baltimore and to do so they built a network of forts to protect the Inner Harbor. Two of these forts were Fort Howard also known as the Fort at North Point and Fort Armistead also known as Hawkins Point. These forts were loaded down with troops and anti-ship cannons that never really saw any wartime action. As time went on the defenses quickly became outdated and useless against advancing military weaponry and the forts were used for training or ammo storage only. The forts were later stripped down and are now used as public parks.

38 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

The Lutheran Hospital was built in 1963 in west Baltimore. Located in a predominantly African-American neighborhood Lutheran became known as one of the few places where African-Americans could seek medical attention without discrimination. With bigger and better hospital facilities popping up all over Baltimore the hospital fell on hard times and was forced to close its doors in 1989. Since closing down over 17 years ago the building has been stripped of anything of value. Scrappers and vandals have really torn the place apart and it now the large hospital just sits with no future.

20 files, last one added on Jun 07, 2007

The Enchanted Forest was the first theme park built on the east coast and the second in the country. Disneyland was the first. The Enchanted Forest opened its doors to everyone in 1955.

The park closed in the 80s and the land was purchased by a developer which put a shopping center on the property. "Clark's Elioak Farm" made a deal with the owner of the shopping center and has been transferring the attractions to the local farm where they are being restored and put on display. The remaining attractions are in very bad shape but the place is still very cool to see.

42 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

The American Brewery is not only a monument to the development of brewing, one of Baltimore's major industries, but also to the Germans who worked and lived in the area. John Frederick Wiessner, a German immigrant, leased the land in 1863 in order to erect a brewery. Although there were already 21 breweries in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Wiessner's Brewery rapidly expanded, employing many Germans that had been brewers prior to their emigration to America. In 1887, Wiessner constructed the present building to enlarge and modernize his brewery.

The height of the building and the internal organization of space were determined by the requirements of brewing, but its exuberant exterior reflects the tastes and decorative detail popular during the Victorian age in which it was built. The American Brewery was one of the largest and finest breweries in the state. The Wiessners were forced to sell during Prohibition, and the Allegheny Beverage Company was the last company to occupy the brewery. In the mid-1930s, a modern brewery was created behind the old facade. "American Beer" was produced here until 1973.

41 files, last one added on Jun 07, 2007

The Rosewood training school was established in the late 1800s to treat individuals with mental retardation. A little web research and a large safe in the basement of the school packed with incident reports is enough to tell that something wasn't right here. Reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and unsanitary living conditions were most common problems contributing to the schools disturbing past.

While the campus is still active with newer facilities all of the old buildings remain abandoned or partially active. The center is now supposedly one of the better in the state for the treatment of individuals with mental retardation.

17 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

Built in the early 1900s Belmont prison started out with a capacity of 60 inmates. Over time Belmont grew to an extensive 3,200 acre complex housing between 6,000 and 7,000 inmates.

The facility fell into a condition of dangerous despair. Security was understaffed, inmates were killing other inmates and reports say the drug trafficking inside the prison had become uncontrollable.

Congress demanded the facility be shut down. The prison closed ahead of schedule in November 2001. A school has already been built on the property. Other future plans include art studios, museum, golf course expansion, residential housing, retirement home, cemetery, park land, etc…

60 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

A few buildings and a garage are all that remains of the Seton Psychiatric Institute in Baltimore city. The largest remaining structure was some type of living quarters, maybe a nurse residence. The main hospital building was demolished years ago.

In 1844 the buildings were acquired by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity, who operated them as a hospital, Mount Hope Asylum (later Retreat), until the 1880s.

The Sisters of Charity went on to establish another psychiatric facility, known as the "Mount Hope Retreat," which later became the Seton Institute. An interesting footnote is the fact that the Sisters of Charity were later accused of using the Mount Hope Retreat to "unlawfully imprison" and torture patients.

The customary practice in Catholic dioceses and congregations across the United States when complaints of abuse were made was to transfer the priest out of his current position into another position of clerical service unless the situation came to the attention of civil authorities or threatened grave scandal. In these cases, the priests or religious were sent to a treatment facility, such as Seton, in order to avoid criminal prosecution and/or public exposure. In virtually all referrals to Seton Institute for sexual contact involving minors, the precipitating event was usually either a risk of public exposure or a court—related referral.

To make a long story short… Catholic priests that had problems including sexual involvement with minors were sent here for treatment avoiding prosecution.

33 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

This former site of Tri-State Motor Transit Company was built around 1974. Im not sure if the trucking company was the original owner or if it was previously a hotel. What you see from the road greatly resembles your typical hotel layout.

The land is now owned by Charlestown Crossing, LLC which plans to turn the area into residential development. The design has already started at a local civil engineering firm so its only a short matter of time before the place is gone.

17 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

Henryton State Hospital is located in a wooded, steeply sloped rural area in the southeast corner of the County. The facility was established in the 1920’s as a tuberculosis hospital for the “Negro” population. Henryton was converted to a facility serving the developmentally disabled population (i.e., mental retardation) in 1962, and closed in 1985. It has been vacant since closing. However, the Maryland State Police currently use the facility on a part-time basis to train police dogs and demonstrate how to conduct searches, etc.

The Henryton campus consists of eighteen buildings, with a total of 228,000 square feet. The campus is located on 46 acres in the middle of a State Park. The main buildings at Henryton include three connecting multi-story structures, built between the 1920’s and 1940, containing approximately 119,000 square feet. The earliest building comprised the original tuberculosis hospital. Two additions were built and renovations were made to the original building between the time of the original construction and 1940. There are also five support buildings located nearby. These were built between 1936 and 1952 and contain approximately 96,000 square feet. Seven small maintenance buildings or sheds scattered throughout the campus were constructed between the 1920’s and 1940 and have a total of 8,000 square feet of space. Finally, there are three other maintenance buildings constructed between 1957 and 1960.

The property is abandoned and currently for sale and having trouble selling due to environmental issues and the historical value of the buildings some of which cannot be torn down.

65 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

The Nike named after the Greek goddess of victory, was the name given to a program that produced the worlds first successful guided surface-to-air missiles. During the start of the cold war the United States built Nike missile sites around populated areas due to the threat of a new wave of soviet long range bomber aircraft which were capable of carrying bombs well withing the continental US.

This Launch Control Area (LCA) site consits of about 10 acres. On site is a guardhouse, former barracks, water tanks, pump house, an acid-neutralization pit, three missile silos, three monitoring wells, and numerous trailers, autos and other misc junk.

In 1954, the United States Government obtained the land for the this Nike Launch site from a private owner. The site formerly contained the equipment required to assemble, test, and maintain missiles and associated launchers. According to the current owner, in 1962, the site was deactivated because it was unsuitable for the Hercules missile system that began deployment that year. Between 1962 and 1985, the site was inactive, and the property was still owned by the Federal Government. In 1985, a neighboring farmer purchased the property from the Federal Government for $65,000. For a short time in 1986, the property was leased to the County Police Department. Since then, the property has been used by the farmer for breeding horses and goats.

This site is on the State Master List that identifies potential hazardous waste sites in Maryland. Because of that it can't be used for much of anything and sits over-grown and piled with junk. The site barely resembles the military facility it used to be. The watch towers are gone and the access doors to the silos have been welded shut. Other access points have been locked via pad-locks.

17 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

This is the site of an abandoned rubber factory hidden in the woods of Maryland. Built in the 1960s this factory passed thru the hands of several owners before it was shut down for reasons I have yet to figure out. Who knows, maybe asbestos contamination.

There is evidence of fire since the closing of the factory which is barely noticable from the outside. "For-Sale" signs are posted on the property and it looks like someone is working to clean the place up.

22 files, last one added on Mar 11, 2007

The buildings of the former Tome School for Boys sit on a 200 foot bluff overlooking the river in Maryland. The School for Boys Historic District is comprised of 13 buildings on approximately 30 acres: Memorial Hall, the primary academic building; Jackson, Madison and Harrison Halls, the three dormitories; the Director's residence; the Inn dormitory and Dining Hall; the Gymnasium; and six Master's cottages. The stone buildings are arranged around a quadrangle and are in an elaborate Beaux-Arts influenced, Georgian Revival style. The Master's cottages are frame and stucco in a vernacular residential style.

The buildings remain abandoned and lost in the woods. Tho the grounds appear to be maintained there is no apparent reason why.

54 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006

In the mid-1960s the Naval Research Laboratory built an experimental satellite-communications facility at a former Nike missile control site near (W-45). The facility contained a 60-foot parabolic­dish antenna, transmitters, and a low-noise receiving system. It was also equipped fully for satellite tracking, data processing, and communications modulation experiments. The installation was completed in 1967.

The facility was used during the Vietnam War as part of a special operation called "Compass Link", established by the Defense Communications Agency to pass high-quality target photography from Vietnam to Washington, DC. Compass link was established using two DSCSI satellites, providing two hops: Vietnam to Hawaii, and Hawaii to Maryland. From Maryland the imagery was transmitted by land line directly to the White House and the Pentagon. Compass Link was used extensively until the end of the Vietnam War.

One of the Navy's goals in building the facility was to test satellite-communications technology at frequencies higher than UHF, where for example, there would be plenty of bandwidth available for new techniques such as anti jam modulation. The first transmitter installed at the facility was in the SHF communications band (radar X-band) of the microwave spectrum. During the late 1960s the Waldorf facility was heavily involved in testing both U.S. commercial satellites and the Defense Satellite Communications System.

In the 1970s the facility was a participant in tests of satellite communications in the EHF band (involving experiments with the Lincoln Laboratory Experimental Satellites (LES) 8 and 9). These tests were part of the MILSTAR development effort.

In the late 1970s, the facility also played a role in tests of the Fleet Broadcast Processor, as part of the FLTSATCOM program.

The facility was decommissioned by the United States Government General Services Administration (GSA) and were publicly auctioned off in 1998 and then repurchased by a private investor in early 2000's.

The right to demolish and scrap the dishes and other structures was auctioned off on ebay on March 13, 2005 for $136.20. The buildings have been demolished and removed. All that remains are the two dishes, some storage tanks and a bunch of concrete slabs.

19 files, last one added on Aug 21, 2006

St. Mary’s College also known as “Hell House” was originally named Mount Saint Clemens. The religious school for boys was started in the mid 1800s by a religious group calling themselves “The Redemptorists”. In 1882 a new chapel was built and encouragement from Pope Poious IX led the Redemptorists to change the name of the school to St. Mary’s College.

The Redemptorists continued to operate the school until 1972 when it closed due to a decreasing number of students. In 1987 the land was split up and sold to the state and to the private investor listed above.

Around this time a man known as Allen Hudson became the caretaker of the property. Hudson kept up the place best he could and chased off thrill seekers and vandals while living in a stone house on the property. Hudson was well known by the local trespassers as the mean old man with the rottweilers and a shotgun. Hudson was even charged with assault, battery and assault with the intent to murder in 1996 when he shot and critically wounded a trespasser. I don’t know what came of the charges but Hudson remained caretaker and continued living on the property.

On Halloween night in 1997 the main building was burned down by vandals. The brick walls that remained were unstable and threatened the caretaker’s home if they fell, because of this the caretaker was forced by police to leave.

Since our visit this place has been completely demolished.

37 files, last one added on Aug 21, 2006

During World War Two , the farm on this land was condemned by the U.S. Government and acquired along with four other tracts of land along Winter's Run. The U.S. Army constructed Atkisson Dam, creating a 75 acre lake which was to ensure an adequate water supply for the Army Chemical Center. The entire farm was vacated and the area was guarded by soldiers 24 hours a day.

In 1948 the property was declared surplus property. Through the efforts of Dr. Charles Willis, Superintendent of Schools, the property was given to the Harford County Board of Education under a lease for 25 years. The property is comprised of 245 acres of land and a 75 acre lake.

There is some sort of tunnel or drain on the west side of the dam. Maybe just a spillway or maybe it goes inside the dam itself. Im not sure.

21 files, last one added on Jan 29, 2007